Flat-Out Sexy(34)

"Why not? It's not like you can keep it a secret forever."

"But we can keep it a secret until Tamara decides she wants people to  know, and then we'll do it her way. Not with a media blitz. Pete's  parents are her in-laws and she's still close to them."

"Well, you know Johnny Briggs and Dad hate each other."                       
       
           



       

"I know. And the reason is ridiculous as far as I can tell. Something  about a stolen trophy and a fistfight. They're grown men and they need  to get over it."

"You tell that to Dad," Evan said, biting his fingernail. "I'd like to see that one go down.

He'll actually be madder at you than at me then."

Now Elec was starting to feel as stressed out as Eve. His relationship  with Tamara was complicated enough already. Why did everyone else have  to keep sticking their finger in the pot and stirring things up? "I'm  not going to say anything. All we need is Dad making an issue of their  feud and we'll have a PR nightmare on our hands. They'll say you took a  swipe at Pete intentionally."

Eve stopped paced. "Oh, no. Oh, no. And then suddenly your blossoming  romance will be seen as a maneuver on the part of the Monroes to get  back at the Briggs family."

Elec sat back in shock. "No one would believe that." He looked up at Eve. "Would they?"

"Doesn't matter if they believe it or not if the media chooses to make an issue out of it."

Eve stuck her finger out at him. "Don't let anyone know what you're  doing with Tamara Briggs. Keep your little romps a secret or I will duct  tape you to this coach when you're not on the road."

"I told you I wanted to keep it a secret!" he said in annoyance. "Don't  go threatening me, Eve Alexandra. I don't want to hear it."

"He's pissed if he's bringing out the middle name," Evan said. "Let it go, Eve."

Their sister didn't look at all concerned with his stern voice. She was back to pacing.

"Okay, here's what we do. Elec keeps his diddling on the sly and Evan  makes a better apology and goes to a Briggs Foundation charity event."

Though Elec took a hell of an exception to the term diddling, he couldn't disagree. "Fine."

"I can do that," Evan said.

Eve gave a massive sigh and headed for the kitchen. "Thank God. Now if  you don't have chocolate in here, I'm going to go bat shit crazy on  you."

Elec prayed he did, because neither he nor Evan wanted to see Eve's head explode.





TAMARA picked at her dinner and tried to ignore the fact that her  father-in-law was ranting about the comment Evan Monroe had made about  Pete after his win at Pocono.

"I mean, who the hell does he think he is? That was just damn rude, tossing that remark out there so casually."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it the way it sounded," Beth said. "Do you want more mashed potatoes, dear?"

"No," Johnny said. "I don't. What I want is an apology from that punk  kid for insulting my son, who in his four short years in the cup series  has a list of accomplishments longer than my arm."

Tamara had seen the clip of Evan speaking, and she agreed with Beth. It  had sounded a little rude, but she didn't think it was that big of a  deal. He was clearly elated from his victory, hot and sweaty, and being  forced to answer questions before he could even have a drink or hit the  bathroom. And when he'd realized how his response had sounded, he'd  given a very respectful follow-up comment.

It hadn't offended her in the least, but then she hadn't lived her  entire life active in the sport like Johnny had, where personalities  clashed, tempers ran hot, and men died. As much as she loved racing, it  wasn't her career, her livelihood, her legacy.

"Evan did seem surprised that he'd passed Pete's record. He didn't seem  to even know that until the reporter mentioned it," Tamara commented.

"Well, he should have!" Johnny said, destroying his dinner roll by tearing chunks out of it and dunking them in gravy.

Clearly, there was no talking to Johnny until he had calmed down. Even  Petey and Hunter were quiet as they ate, picking up on the fact that  their grandfather was hopping mad.

"I'm sure he'll apologize," Beth said.

"I don't want to see or hear anything from either of those Monroe boys. Ever."

Tamara couldn't swallow. All she needed was for her kids to find their  voices and mention that Elec Monroe had been at their house for hours  the Monday before.

But they must have figured out that mentioning a little fact like that  might turn Grandpa's anger on them, because they both sat with wide eyes  and opened their mouths only to shovel more food in.

"And why do they all have names that start with an E anyway? It's stupid. That Elliot's an arrogant SOB."

"Johnny." His wife gave him a stern look. "Now there is no reason to be  insulting the names that man gave his children. He can name his  offspring whatever he wants, and I happen to think they all have  attractive names. And watch the language in front of your  grandchildren."                       
       
           



       

That was enough for her father-in-law. He slapped his napkin down on the  table and stood up. "I'm going out. Don't wait up for me, Beth."

Her mother-in-law watched him go then sighed. "Don't mind him. It's just  days like this it hits him hard that Pete is gone forever."

"I miss Daddy," Hunter said, her eyes filled with tears.

Tamara thought it was probably just an emotional reaction to the tension  at the table, and Hunter seeing her normally jovial grandfather cranky  as hell, but she still had to deal with it.

"I know, baby girl, we all do," she told her. "Come sit on Momma's lap."

Tamara rocked her daughter and wondered how she could possibly justify  leaving the university the next day and speeding home to have a  clandestine meeting with Elec, who her father-in-law deemed the enemy.

She should cancel.

It was all too damn complicated.

But somehow she just couldn't bring herself to do that.





CHAPTER ELEVE


TAMARA popped a third breath mint into her mouth and wiped her sweaty  palms down the front of her skirt. Elec was supposed to be there in ten  minutes and she was nervous as hell. It was one thing to spontaneously  have sex with him, it was another to know he was showing up at her house  at one thirty for that precise reason.



Never in her life had she made these kind of plans and she was so worked  up she actually inhaled the breath mint whole and started coughing.  Where were they supposed to go when he got there? Was she supposed to  offer him a drink? Lead him upstairs? Do it on the couch?

Glancing at the clock in her kitchen for the nineteenth time, she  wondered if she had enough time for a shower. The car had been about  ninety degrees when she'd left school and she felt hot and sweaty,  especially in places she would really like him to linger. If she was  self-conscious about perspiration, she wasn't going to be able to enjoy  herself.

So whether or not she had enough time, she really needed a shower.

Of course, if he arrived while she was in the shower, she wouldn't hear  him, and what if he left? That would seriously be horrible, after all  this work and anxiety and desperate anticipation.

Running up the stairs, she debated putting a note for Elec on her  unlocked front door, but dismissed that idea. Any crazy who happened  onto her porch could just stroll on in then and murder her like poor  Janet Leigh in Psycho. She would send him a text message instead and  tell him to come in if she didn't answer the door. That would work.

Texting while walking, Tamara started the shower and kicked off her  shoes and skirt. After hitting Send, she tossed her phone on the bed and  grabbed a towel. Cranking up her iPod in the speaker in her bedroom,  hoping a little music would distract her from being nervous, she put her  hair up in a knot and got in the shower.

She had five minutes to shave, buff, and refresh the hell out of her  body, and maybe figure out how to extract her heart from her throat in  the meantime.

It was a lot to ask of five minutes, hot water, and apricot shaving cream, but she was determined to try.





ELEC was nervous as hell as he strode onto Tamara's front porch, feeling  sort of like a kid cutting school. He even found himself glancing  around at the neighbors' houses to see if anyone was watching, but the  street was sleepy and quiet at that time of day. There was one mother  pushing a stroller and walking her dog, but she didn't even glance his  way.

He had gotten Tamara's text so he knew he was supposed to walk on in,  but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do after that, nor did he  understand why she couldn't answer the door. For half a second he had  thought that maybe Tamara had planned a seduction for him, and that he  was going to wander through a house strewn with rose petals or  something, and at the end of the line, Tamara would be waiting for him  in sexy lingerie.